Issues of concern to people who live in the west: property rights, water rights, endangered species, livestock grazing, energy production, wilderness and western agriculture. Plus a few items on western history, western literature and the sport of rodeo... Frank DuBois served as the NM Secretary of Agriculture from 1988 to 2003. DuBois is a former legislative assistant to a U.S. Senator, a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Interior, and is the founder of the DuBois Rodeo Scholarship.

Monday, August 01, 2016

Why utilities and environmentalists are teaming up against the solar industry

Environmentalists don't always see eye to eye with Southern California Edison and Pacific Gas & Electric, California's two largest utilities. But some of the state's most influential environmental groups have joined forces with the utilities to support a massive conservation and clean energy plan, in the face of opposition from the solar and wind industries.
Officials are close to finalizing the far-reaching plan, which would divvy up 10 million acres of federal land in the California desert between conservation, energy development and recreation, including off-roading. The goal is to protect threatened species like bighorn sheep and desert tortoises, while identifying areas where solar and wind farms can be built safely and approved quickly. The biggest development zone is proposed for eastern Riverside County, where several solar farms already rank among the largest in the world.
Energy-industry critics say the plan would leave far too little space for solar and wind projects, while doing nothing to speed up development. But many conservationists disagree, and so do the utilities. In a joint letter earlier this month, Edison, PG&E and seven
environmental groups called for the plan's swift approval. It's an
unusual alliance: Several of the environmental groups have sparred with
Edison and PG&E in recent years, on issues ranging from rooftop
solar compensation to who should pay for the decommissioning of the San
Onofre nuclear power plant. But they've decided their interests align on the desert plan. In their July letter to Neil Kornze,
director of the federal Bureau of Land Management, they praised the
plan's "landscape approach to balancing conservation and clean energy,"
saying it will "provide consistency and certainty" for conservationists
working to protect ecosystems and energy developers looking to build
power plants...more